ON THE LEVEL

In an age of quick fix builds it’s nice to meet someone who’s been getting stuck in on the same car for years and years like Carl Levy has with his hot rod-inspired Mk1 Caddy.

Photos: Nick Williams

“I got in to VWs when I started my apprenticeship at a VW dealership,” Carl Levy started off. “It was inevitable after that wasn’t it? I was always in to my cars, I’ve got my dad to thank for that. He’s a real hands-on kind of guy, but it was when I started working at the dealership that my interest really focused you could say.”

You might think spending your nine to five turning wrenches on VW’s latest wares could put you off having anything to do with them at home, but for Carl it only fired him up more. “Four of the guys there had old modified VWs, a pair of Mk1s and a pair of Mk2s, so those lads hold a lot of the responsibility for this car,” he smiled. Carl eventually joined the fraternity with a tidy Mk2 Driver, his second car and the first to wear the VW emblem.

Under the guidance of his old-school loving colleagues, the Driver ended up running a 1.9-litre 8v engine on twin 45 Dellortos and then, when its sills gave up the ghost, that engine found its way in to another Mk2 that continued to serve him well.

“One of the guys from the dealership’s brothers owned a Mk1 Caddy pick-up and he brought it in one day and took me out for a drive one lunch break,” Carl remembered fondly. “I couldn’t even drive at the time and it was certainly no show car, but I pretty much decided right then that one day I would own one.”

About Performance VW

Welcome to the Cool Britannia issue. The UK scene continues to push boundaries, bring out ideas and develop trends and put simply, blow our collective minds. So we thought it was about time we put together a special issue packed full of some of the UK’s finest cars to drop over the last year. With the flawless execution of Martin Barker’s restomod’d two-door Audi 80 to Jim Offord’s impeccable Mk2 G60 and Carl Levy’s homegrown Mk1 Caddy we’ve got the old school covered. And with Shaun Lewis’ ever-evolving T5 and Craig Levens’ incredible Mk5 we’ve got the new school wrapped up too. We haven’t forgotten the smaller Dubs either, Jamie Jackson’s 400bhp Lupo is a real giant-slayer and Jake Belfied’s carbed Mk2 Polo Coupe proves you don’t have to build a Golf to take the showfield by storm. Like the cars themselves, PVW magazine continues to grow, push boundaries and hopefully, inspire people as it goes. We’re in this together, and it’s a great place to be, Enjoy the issue.